A beautiful, nearly perfect, work for me. One that made me think and feel blessed for what I have.

I found while reading this that I really mourn the loss of what is now an 'old-fashioned' childhood. The one where kids would adventure out, learn things on their own, explore their world. Most kids around here rarely leave their house lot or neighborhood, let alone leave the comforts of indoors. They do not visit the postman, the baker, or the newspaper office for obvious reasons. There is very little sense of community without a real concerted effort in my neck of the woods, and I would venture to say this is generally true elsewhere. Children today certainly do not spend each day of their summer vacation working off a debt or picnicking with friends in a tree house. How sad that future generations cannot write stories of our children with such depth as Clare Vanderpool was able to in Moon over Manifest. I recently read "Ready, Player One" and desperately hope that this is not a glimpse of historical fiction in the future...ummm, if that makes sense (future historical? LOL).

Secondly, I had forgotten, or perhaps in my ignorance and naiveté did not fully comprehend, the trial and pain of being an immigrant during this period of history. In some part of my rational head I would like to thinkthat I understood the difficulties and would not be flippant. Clare Vanderpool painted a beautiful and painful picture of this very thing, and it humbled me greatly.

This one is going on my to-buy list. Someday I hope to read it to my boys and that is the highest praise I can doll out